Chapter 26: Blueheart Grass, Dragon's Blood
Strength?
Linley had a very clear understanding of his own power.
In human form, he was already at the Saint realm. Once he underwent his Dragonblood Warrior transformation, the defense provided by his dragon scales was more than ten times stronger than before. His battle qi and physical strength had also undergone a terrifying increase. Linley could fully understand now... why his ancestors back then, despite not having a particularly high level of insight, could rely solely on their Saint-level transformation to defeat peak Saint-level magical beasts.
As for insight...
He had already comprehended the Earth Pulse to the level of 256 vibrational waves. The further one went with vibrational waves, the greater the difficulty. Yet ever since reaching the 256-wave level, he had made no progress at all for an entire year.
It seemed... that 256 was the limit.
"It's not the limit," Linley knew deep down. "According to what the War God said, if you truly reach the limit on one path of the elemental laws, that is the step into the Divine realm. I'm still far from stepping into the Divine realm. What lies beyond the 256-wave level?"
Linley himself didn't know.
No one else had experience with the Earth Pulse that he could use as a reference. Linley could only immerse himself day after day, trying to resonate with the Earth Pulse, hoping to comprehend something more.
As for the Wind Elemental laws, Linley was steadily improving without encountering any bottlenecks.
"But mental energy is truly difficult to train. Twelve years have passed, and I'm still only at the peak of the ninth rank. Crossing into the Saint-level magus realm is really hard." Linley sighed inwardly. If anyone had heard these thoughts, they would have cursed him out.
In magical training, going from the sixth rank to the seventh rank was a hurdle. And going from the ninth rank to the Saint realm was a major hurdle.
How could such a hurdle be easily broken through?
Linley looked at Delia and couldn't help but think of the black stone that Bebe had given him when they got married. "In just twelve years, Delia went from a seventh-rank magus to a ninth-rank Grand Magus. Although she had been stuck at the seventh rank for several years before, this speed is truly terrifying."
Delia was already a ninth-rank Grand Magus.
After their marriage, Delia had discovered that not only was her elemental affinity terrifyingly high, but her rate of absorbing magical power was also astonishingly fast. Her mental energy was also increasing rapidly... Her rate of progress far exceeded Linley's. In Linley's view, there was only one explanation for this change—
That mysterious black stone.
******
After the meal.
Sini, Taylor, and Sasha, the three children, were playing together on the lakeshore, while Linley, Wharton, and Delia sat together.
"Big brother," Wharton finally stated the purpose of his visit. "Sini and Taylor were tested when they were young. Their Dragonblood Warrior bloodline concentration didn't reach the threshold. It seems we'll have to use the method you mentioned back then."
Linley frowned slightly.
"Oh? That's right, it's time to awaken their Dragonblood Warrior bloodline so they can start cultivating the 'Dragonblood Secret Code' early." Linley nodded slightly. After talking with the plane guardian 'Hodan' back then, Linley had understood—
The Dragonblood Warriors of the Baruch clan were by no means the few mentioned in the books. The actual number was very large. It all relied on dragon's blood.
"Will there be any danger?" Delia asked, a little uneasy.
"Using dragon's blood combined with Blueheart Grass to awaken the Dragonblood Warrior bloodline within them is completely safe." Linley said with absolute certainty. At the same time, he looked at the three children on the lakeshore. "Taylor and Sini will both have their bloodlines awakened. What about Sasha?"
"Sasha?" Wharton and Delia also looked at Sasha in the distance.
Sasha was just a girl. Although in warrior training, males generally had a natural advantage over females, that didn't mean girls couldn't become powerful warriors.
Delia smiled faintly. "Let her decide for herself."
Linley nodded slightly.
...
"Become a Dragonblood Warrior?" Taylor was the first to cheer. "Ah, I'm going! I'm definitely going! I've dreamed of becoming a Dragonblood Warrior, just like Father. Wow, just thinking about it gets me excited!"
Sini also nodded slightly. "I'll go."
Linley, Wharton, Nina, and Delia weren't surprised. It would be strange if the boys in the family gave up this opportunity. Now they were all looking at Sasha. Sasha was very quiet. Although she was only ten years old, the beauty she had inherited from Delia was already beginning to show.
"I... I'll go too." Sasha bit her lip and nodded firmly.
Delia stroked Sasha's head and praised her, "Sasha, you'll be a powerful female Dragonblood Warrior in the future." A smile appeared on Sasha's face.
"Good." Linley nodded. "Since that's the case... Wharton, Nina, you leave Sini with me. I'll take the three of them to... the Sunset Mountains to find a Saint-level dragon and let some of its blood." Linley said cheerfully.
Letting some of a Saint-level dragon's blood—this made Sini, Taylor, and Sasha's eyes light up with excitement.
"I'll come along too," Wharton said, a little worried.
"Hey, little Wharton, you're only at the ninth rank now. Even if you transform, you'd only be at the initial Saint realm." Bebe flew over from a distance and said discontentedly, "Do you think your level of insight can match the boss back then?"
Although after transforming he would also be at the initial Saint realm, Wharton's level of insight was far inferior to Linley's.
"I'm going with the boss. Damn it, if one Saint-level dragon comes, I'll kill it. If two come, I'll kill one and catch the other as a mount!" Bebe was extremely arrogant, but he had the strength to back it up. In the past twelve years, Bebe's strength had increased far more than it had in the twelve years before that.
Wharton nodded and smiled. "Since Bebe is going with my big brother, I can rest easy."
The final team was decided—Linley, Bebe, Delia, and the three children. Delia's responsibility was to take care of the three children, Bebe was to protect them. As for Linley... he was responsible for dealing with the Saint-level dragon.
******
Under the vast sky, clouds like strands of silk drifted across the horizon. A magical beast, a full ten meters long, was flying rapidly through the air. It was the enlarged 'Bebe'. Delia, along with Sini, Taylor, and Sasha, the three children, were on Bebe's back.
Delia cast a spell, forming a cone-shaped shield to block the strong wind from reaching the children.
"Wow... Mother, that city looks like the biggest one I've ever seen." Taylor pointed at a city on the ground below that looked only the size of a 'fist'. From such a high altitude, all cities looked small. This 'fist'-sized city was the largest one.
Delia's gaze was complex as she sighed, "This is my hometown, the imperial capital of the Yulan Empire."
"The imperial capital of the Yulan Empire?" Taylor, Sasha, and Sini all looked down.
"Are you hungry?" Delia flipped her hand and took out some delicious food she had brought from her spatial ring. After Bebe had grown to ten meters long, his back was naturally very wide. Combined with Delia's spell blocking the wind, Sasha, Sini, and Taylor felt as if they were on a picnic.
They sat on a blanket, enjoying the food.
Bebe flew very steadily, without any bumps.
"Delia, don't spoil these children too much." Linley, flying side by side with Bebe, saw this scene and couldn't help but smile.
Delia glanced at Linley. "Linley, don't talk about me. You only see the children once in a long while, and you're saying that to me!" Linley immediately shut up. He was indeed in the wrong. Sometimes a single meditation session would last for months, and he truly felt he owed his children and Delia.
Linley looked down at the vast land below. The Sunset Mountains were not far away.
The Yulan continent had three main gathering places for magical beasts—the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, the Dark Forest, and the Sunset Mountains. Of course, there were magical beasts in other places as well, but their numbers were extremely scarce. In these three places, however, the number of magical beasts was terrifyingly high.
Now, both the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts and the Dark Forest had Deity-level experts within them. So Linley chose to go to the Sunset Mountains.
After a long time...
The outline of the Sunset Mountains appeared on the horizon. The Sunset Mountains started from the Dark Alliance, hugged the southern border of the Yulan Empire, and then connected with the 'Scorching Sun Desert' to the south of the 'Rhein Empire'.
In reality, both the Sunset Mountains and the 'Scorching Sun Desert' were already at the southernmost tip of the Yulan continent.
If one crossed the Sunset Mountains or the Scorching Sun Desert, they would reach the boundless 'South Sea'.
"Wow, it's so big! It looks even longer than the Dark Forest." Taylor exclaimed. Taylor and the others had also looked down at the Dark Forest from high above on Bebe's back before.
Sini said, "Taylor, according to the books, the Sunset Mountains and the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts are both very long. But their width is generally around a thousand miles. As for the Dark Forest, it's several thousand miles long and two to three thousand miles wide."
Taylor nodded in understanding.
"Get ready to go down." Linley suddenly said.
...
The giant 'Bebe' and Linley flew side by side, diving rapidly downward. When they were only a few hundred meters from the mountain range, both man and beast stopped in mid-air.
"Now we'll fly at this altitude. Bebe and I will search for a Saint-level dragon." Linley instructed Delia and the children.
"Don't worry, Father." Taylor said confidently.
Seeing his son like this, Linley couldn't help but smile. Then he and Bebe separated slightly, and began using their spiritual energy to scan the magical beasts below. The Sunset Mountains were almost as vast as the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, so naturally, there were quite a few Saint-level magical beasts.
But the Sunset Mountains were huge, and the Saint-level magical beasts were scattered. Finding a Saint-level dragon right away was impossible.
"Hm?" Linley's spiritual energy suddenly detected a Saint-level magical beast. This one was quite familiar to Linley—it was a Violet-Eyed Golden-Furred Ape. This terrifying Saint-level beast, which was as tall as a three-story building, sensed someone spying on him.
"Who is it?" The Violet-Eyed Golden-Furred Ape's voice boomed like thunder across the sky. Its violet eyes looked up at the figure in the high sky.
Linley stood in mid-air, his voice carrying down: "Linley of the Chaos Territory. Sorry for the disturbance." After Linley finished speaking, the Violet-Eyed Golden-Furred Ape didn't press the matter. Saint-level magical beasts were far more intelligent than ordinary humans.
Especially those that had lived a long time; they were very familiar with the powerful experts of the Yulan continent.
Some peak experts, such as 'Desri' and 'Hayward' of the Chaos Territory, and 'Tulley' of the far eastern prairie, were well-known. The name 'Linley' of the Chaos Territory had also spread among the magical beast experts recently. As long as he wasn't too excessive, these Saint-level magical beasts didn't want to get into a conflict with these top-tier experts.
They searched for a while.
"Boss, I found a Saint-level dragon. It's a dark-attribute 'Tyrannosaurus'." Bebe's voice rang out in Linley's mind. Without hesitation, Linley immediately flew at top speed in Bebe's direction.
******
On a small hill, Linley instructed, "Sini, you children stay here. Delia, you're responsible for taking care of them... Bebe, no matter what, you have to protect them well." Linley looked at Bebe, who said confidently, "Don't worry, boss. I have four Illusory Shadow clones now."
With Bebe's terrifying speed, coupled with his 'Illusory Shadow' technique, even if two or three ordinary Saint-level magical beasts came, they wouldn't be able to harm Delia and the others.
"Father, be careful," Sasha said.
Linley laughed. "Alright, you all wait here. I'll go capture that Tyrannosaurus." With that, Linley flew directly into the distance. Delia and the children stood on the hill, watching. Fortunately, they had chosen this hill, so they had a clear view.
After a short while—
Linley arrived above the Tyrannosaurus. Among the dragon race, there were mainly ground dragons, which relied on their powerful physiques, and aerial dragons, which had stronger magical power. The Tyrannosaurus was a peak existence among ground dragons. Its massive body was a hundred meters long, covered in pitch-black scales as hard as rocks.
The Tyrannosaurus had already noticed Linley. Its fiery red eyes, as large as carriage wheels, stared at Linley. "Who are you?"
"Linley of the Chaos Territory," Linley said.
"Linley?" The Tyrannosaurus growled. "I am 'Pulkwait' of the Sunset Mountains. Linley, what do you want?" This Saint-level Tyrannosaurus 'Pulkwait' was one of the peak experts in the Sunset Mountains.
Linley smiled slightly. "Pulkwait, I would like to borrow some of your dragon's blood."
"Roar~~" The Tyrannosaurus 'Pulkwait's' eyes suddenly erupted with hellfire, incinerating the surrounding trees and boulders. "Linley, are you insulting me, Pulkwait? If you don't get lost now, prepare to face the wrath of Pulkwait!"
Linley, hovering in mid-air, helplessly shook his head and sighed. He flipped his hand and drew the Violet Blood Soft Sword.